Many electrical components are grouped together and stored in racks or the like. These electrical components, such as network switches and the like, may include a plurality of cables and wires. For example, a network rack of Cisco 6509® switches may include 288 cables just for the networking features alone.
From time to time, it may be necessary to remove and/or replace one of the electrical components in the rack. To remove a component from the rack, it may be necessary to disconnect one or more (often all) of the cables and wires associated with the component. As may be appreciated, this may be a time consuming and labor intensive process. The process may be further complicated if the plurality of wires and cables associated with the rack are not organized in a logical manner. A technician may spend a considerable amount of time tracking down, labeling, and/or organizing the multitude of cables and wires associated with a single component. In some situations, it may even be necessary to disconnect (either partially disconnect or totally disconnect) and/or remove other additional components in the rack to simply remove a first component in question. Not only may this directly increase the cost associated with the removal of the component, but it may also significantly increase the down time and loss of productivity, particularly if one or more of the components need to be replaced due to damage, inoperability, or the like.
Moreover, in the process of reinstalling all of the cables and wires associated one or more components may also be a time consuming and labor intensive process. Again, as may be appreciated, it may be necessary to connect the cables and wires to the various components in a predefined manner. If one or more of the cables or wires is improperly connected (for example, a cable or wire is connected to the wrong port), the overall performance of the component may be negatively affected.